to use their gases, & all the men are now provided with pads & veils - these pads are soaked in soda & water. The difficulty is to get the pads on quickly enough. The gas when it is forced from the German trenches travels at the rate of 100 yards in three seconds, & our trenches in most places are nearer than this. News of the sinking of the Lusitania was received here on the 8th - it is the most cowardly act the Germans have perpetrated during the war, & that is saying a good deal. 11-13 May 1915Positions on north & east of Ypres shelled heavily but no ground was lost, and the enemy attacked but failed to effect a lodgement in any of the trenches. A few shells